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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The craven nature of Eircom is surprisingly deep - not only has it happily signed up to the music industry's demands that alleged file sharers must be kicked off the internet, but it's announced it;ll block access to sites on the music industry's say-so:

Irma, which represents major music groups EMI, Sony-BMG, Warner and Universal, is to begin compiling lists of websites that it claims are damaging its business. It will then apply for a court order, requiring Eircom and other internet providers to block access to these sites.

Under the terms of an agreement between Eircom and Irma, Eircom will not oppose any court application, meaning that the orders will be automatically granted. A spokesman for Eircom confirmed that Eircom ‘‘will not oppose any application [Irma] may make seeking the blocking of access from their network’’ to blacklisted websites.

IRMA is going to start by having The Pirate Bay blocked; it's not clear if anywhere else in the world access to web sites hangs on the say-so of private companies without the need for any sort of judicial oversight whatsoever.

It's not clear what Eircom will do if one of its many, many fine competitors do oppose an application, and the courts reject it.